The Blind Date Read Online Free

desk. I need a scraper in my hand and the buzz of a power saw or sander in my head. The noise from the machines and the dust are like heaven to me. Few things are as enjoyable as building something from scratch. To consult with a client and take a product from a concept and create a useable piece of furniture—well, there’s nothing else like it. Of course being in this kind of business wreaks havoc on your hands.” He looked down at his palms.
    His hands had been lightly calloused in Chicago from working on a farm most of his life and then as a woodworking apprentice. She’d never minded it, though.
    “Congratulations on your success,” Shawna said.
    “Congratulations are in order for you, too. William told me you opened a boutique.”
    When she’d met Ryan, she’d finished school and worked at Saks Fifth Avenue, as she had every summer since her freshman year except when she went to France.
    It had been her last summer with the company and they’d wanted to hire her on permanently, but she’d had other plans. She learned everything she could from them, the entire time thinking about her dream of one day opening her own store.
    Nursing a wounded heart but determined to succeed, she’d opened a boutique named La Petite Robe a little over a year after moving to Atlanta. She chose Buckhead as the location, a major commercial district in the city. The astronomical lease initially caused her concern, but she’d made the right decision because the location turned out to be perfect, bringing in the type of clientele she longed to work with and who appreciated the designer clothing from New York and Paris.
    Her success had surprised even her, but she probably wouldn’t have accomplished what she had so quickly if it weren’t for what had happened between her and Ryan. She’d put all her time and energy into the store, working hard to forget him and his lies, slicing in half her timetable to open the boutique.
    The waitress arrived with the drinks and the soups.
    “Thank you,” Shawna said, about to dig in when she felt Ryan’s gaze on her and saw the longing in his eyes. Her insides twisted painfully.
    “Do you remember our first night together?” he asked.
    She moistened her lips with her tongue but regretted it when he zeroed in on her mouth. Taking in a slow, deep breath, she wiped her damp palms on the napkin in her lap. “Are you going to keep doing that?”
    “Doing what?”
    “Make references to our night together.”
    “I thought that’s why we were here.”
    “You’re mistaken. We’re here to catch up, not talk about the past.”
    “I don’t think we can have one without the other.”
    “You’re mistaken again.”
    He fell quiet and his silent observation caused a curious sensation to settle in her stomach. Ryan made her feel on edge and she had a sudden urge to scoot her chair back. The square table between them no longer seemed adequate.
    “Are you telling me you don’t think about it?” he asked quietly. “What it was like that first night?”
    She’d thought about it often and had unfairly compared all her first dates and every other man to him over the years. They invariably fell short. Hard to believe how one night changed her life so much.
    She shrugged, pretending a nonchalance she was far from feeling. “Every now and again.”
    He leaned forward. “Liar.”
    Heat burned her cheeks, and she was grateful for her dark complexion so he couldn’t see her embarrassment. “What do you want me to say?”
    “I want you to admit that you think about it often, because I do. I have yet to meet a woman who measures up to you. The memory is as vivid as if it had been yesterday. I remember taking you out to dinner and you wore that bluish colored dress from work.”
    Teal , she corrected in her head. She remembered what he wore, too. He’d dressed up to impress her.
    “I remember the look on your face when I pulled up in front of the restaurant.”
    “It was a nice restaurant. And a